Left-hand pattern · Dreamy ballad
Drop-and-stay
A long high root, then the lower note twice: calm and settled. Musicians call it broken chord 8-5-5.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Drop-and-stay goes
One bar over a C chord: a row for each key, a column for each step, the finger on each note. Over another chord, move the same shape to its root.
Broken chord: The chord, one note at a time, close together.
Songs with Drop-and-stay
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Drop-and-stay, from verse to chorus.
More ripples
All patternsQuestions about Drop-and-stay
What is Drop-and-stay on piano?
A long high root, then the lower note twice: calm and settled. Musicians call it broken chord 8-5-5, one of the broken chord patterns: the chord, one note at a time, close together.
How do I play broken chord 8-5-5 with the left hand?
Over C major it is C4 (2), then G3 (5), then G3 (5); the number after each note is the finger (1 is the thumb). Over any other chord, move the same shape to that chord's root.
What songs use Drop-and-stay?
It is heard in 87 songs of the library, as the main groove of 12 songs, such as Be My Baby, Forever And Ever, Amen, Hey Joe, This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me.
Is Drop-and-stay easy?
It is an easy pattern, in 4/4, usually around 120 beats a minute.